Ryerson students develop an app for Apple iPhone and Android that plays historical footage of Maple Leaf Gardens

Fourth-year Ryerson students, from left, Shaun Ono, Ryan Bertram, Dylan McFadyen and Marshall Jeske have created an app which brings to life historic photos hanging at the Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Maple Leaf Gardens.

Shaun Ono and Marshall Jeske have created an app which brings old historic photos hanging at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (formerly Maple Leaf Gardens) to life through video and sound.

A group of Ryerson University students is helping ensure that the legend of Maple Leaf Gardens will go on.

Ryerson and Loblaw Properties co-own the building, former home of the Maple Leafs. Ryerson has an athletic centre and arena in the facility, and Loblaws has a supermarket.

Shaun Ono, 21, helped create an interactive app, to be unveiled Friday, that plays historical video footage when the device is pointed at old pictures in the athletic centre.

Ono and his classmates helped create the app for their major final-year project in Radio and Television Arts.

“We wanted to build on the idea that there’s more to these pictures than just what you see,” said Ono, adding the videos showcase Gardens history.

When a user downloads the app, points it at a picture of Leafs legend Tim Horton, or former equipment manager Tommy Nayler, a story is told.

“The story behind Nayler is one that really interested me,” said Ono. “I wanted to make sure others could hear it as well.”

Nayler became a guru of skate sharpening during the Leafs’ glory days of the 1960s, and helped pioneer player equipment still used today. Ono found footage of him bent over his trusty skate sharpening machine.

“There’s even commentary about Conn Smythe asking why Nayler wasn’t in some team photos,” said Ono. “After that, Nayler was in every one.”

Ono’s team also conducted interviews with former Leafs for commentary, such as Doug Gilmour, and famous musicians who played concerts at the venue.

The hardest part of the project was collecting the footage, said Ono, noting $4,000 contributed to the project by Ryerson came in handy.

The National Film Board charged $10 per second of video, a bargain compared with the $20 per second the CBC had asked, said Ono.

“That was the biggest hurdle we went through,” he said.

The app, Mattamy AC Interactive, is available on Apple and Android devices, and works only when pointed at the images in the athletic centre.

“The building was something more than just an arena for the Toronto community” said Marshall Jeske, 22, who helped Ono with the project.

Ono and Jeske were joined by classmates Ryan Bertram, 21, Josh Nieman, 23, and Dylan McFadyen, 22, on the project.

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